Slow Start: DC-Area Home Buyers, Sellers Cautious To Start 2025

• February 11th 2025

by UrbanTurf Staff

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The DC-area housing market is off to a slow start in 2025. 

A new report out from Bright MLS today finds that the number of homes to go under contract in January fell 6.5% compared to January 2024. The number of showings in the region also fell, as did the number of new listings to come on the market (down 4%).

“There is a lot of pent-up demand in the market and many buyers who have been on the sidelines were hoping 2025 would be their year,” Dr. Lisa Sturtevant, Bright MLS Chief Economist, said. “Economic uncertainty and affordability challenges are going to cause some of those buyers to put off their purchase until later in the year.”

Home prices in the region may finally be slowing their ascent in response to market conditions. In January, the median home price was up 4.4%, the lowest year-over-year price change in 15 months. Still, prices and the effect of measures from the Trump administration could dictate the direction of the market for the coming months. 

"New administration policies could have an outsized impact on the DC area housing market, though it is still too early to predict if and how the market might be affected," the report stated. "Higher income buyers in the region may be better positioned heading into the spring market, while first-time and moderate-income buyers still face affordability constraints."

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/slow_start_dc-area_home_buyers_sellers_cautious_to_start_2025/23173.